No. 14 Stanford looks to challenge No. 1 Ducks

Associated Press

Associated Press

Updated 8:04 am, Saturday, November 17, 2012

ESPN College Game Day crews set up Thursday Nov. 15, 2012 in Eugene, Ore., for Saturday morning's show on the Memorial Quad on the University of Oregon campus. Oregon hosts Stanford on Saturday in an NCAA college football game. (AP Photo/The Register-Guard, Chris Pietsch)

EUGENE, Ore. — For the past two seasons it has been the same thing for Stanford: Great expectations dashed by Oregon.

So certainly the No. 14 Cardinal would like nothing better than to derail the top-ranked Ducks in their bid for another shot at the national title. Right?

"I wouldn't call it revenge. Revenge is a strong word," said defensive tackle Terrence Stephens. "I think in the game of football, you can't really be revengeful, because those emotions will take you over. You've got be focused, and you've got to focus on the task at hand."

Last season, Stanford was ranked No. 3 and looking toward its own national championship bid with quarterback Andrew Luck when then-No. 6 Oregon visited Palo Alto and emerged with a 53-30 victory. Running back LaMichael James, who would join Luck's NFL draft class in the spring, ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

The year before, Oregon defeated the Cardinal and Luck 52-31 in an early October hurdle in route to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in the BCS title game against Auburn.

The Ducks are the only conference team Stanford has been unable to beat in the past two seasons.

This season, Oregon (10-0, 7-0) is riding a 13-game winning streak, longest in the nation, into Saturday night's game at Autzen Stadium. With a victory over Stanford, the Ducks would clinch the Pac-12 North and a spot in the conference title game. Oregon has won the last three league titles.

If Stanford (8-2, 6-1) can beat Oregon and take care of UCLA in the season finale, the Cardinal would win the league's northern division because of the head-to-head matchup with the Ducks. The winner of the Pac-12 championship game goes to the Rose Bowl — unless the team plays in the national championship.

"This is pretty much our Pac-12 championship game," Stanford linebacker Chase Thomas said. "We still have UCLA to play, but that's after the fact. This is the best team in the conference that we're going against."

The Cardinal have recent inspiration to draw on: former No. 1 Alabama's loss to Texas A&M last weekend, and USC's upset of the then-No. 4 Ducks last season at Autzen Stadium.

But while Stanford is getting pumped, Oregon is not looking at the game differently than any other — in keeping with coach Chip Kelly's philosophy. The Ducks are favored by nearly three touchdowns.

"It's just another game. We're focused on dialing it up, paying attention to film and not making too big a deal out of it." Ducks offensive lineman Nick Cody said.

It will likely come down to Oregon's quick-strike offense against Stanford's stout defense.

The Ducks have the third-best offense in the nation, averaging nearly 563 yards per game, and the third-best rushing offense with an average of 325 yards a game. And they're scoring an average of 54.8 points a game, tops among FBS teams.

Senior Kenjon Barner, who has capably taken over for James as Oregon's star running back, is averaging 136 yards rushing per game, putting him into the Heisman conversation.

The Ducks have scored 42 or more points in 13 straight games, and they've won all of those games for the longest current winning streak in the nation. Additionally, Oregon has scored 30 or more points in 23 straight games, an NCAA record.

On the other side, Stanford's defense is allowing opponents just under 321 yards a game. But the Cardinal are best at stopping the run: They are allowing just 58.6 yards rushing on average, tops in the nation.

On offense, Stanford will again go with redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan, who will be making his first start on the road. He started last week in the Cardinal's 27-23 victory over Oregon State, throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns.

What's at stake: With a victory, Stanford would likely spoil Oregon's shot at the national championship, much like the Ducks did last season when they visited Stanford Stadium and beat the then-No. 3 Cardinal and star QB Andrew Luck 53-30. A victory could also put Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game, if the Ducks also lose to Oregon State in the annual Civil War rivalry game next week.

What's at stake: Kansas State can clinch at least a share of the Big 12 title and the league's automatic BCS berth with a victory, and more importantly stay undefeated to maintain the No. 1 spot in the BCS rankings and get within one win of the Wildcats' first national championship game. Baylor has to win two of its last three games to be bowl eligible for the third year in a row.

What's at stake: Notre Dame is looking to post its first undefeated season at home since 1998 and holds out hope that either Kansas State or Oregon will stumble down the stretch, providing the Irish with the opportunity to play in the BCS title game. Wake Forest still needs a victory to become bowl eligible.

What's at stake: Alabama would like to get in a better mood after its first loss of the season. More meaningful games for the Crimson Tide will be happening elsewhere involving the three remaining unbeaten teams standing in the way of a national title shot. Western Carolina, which plays in the FCS, can dream of a monumental upset to end coach Mark Speir's first season.

What's at stake: Not much, other than a chance for Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse Georgia Southern to see how it stacks up against one of the nation's top-ranked teams. Georgia has already clinched a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game and is tuning up for its regular-season finale against Georgia Tech. The Eagles are closing out their regular season after claiming a share of the Southern Conference title with Appalachian State and Wofford.